Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic device, and, in particular, to a method and a portable electronic device for controlling a graphical user interface of a camera application to increase user convenience when taking a photo.
Description of the Related Art
With advances in technology, it has become very popular to take photos using mobile devices such as smartphones, camera phones, or tablets. However, while a user may take a photo by holding a mobile device with one hand, it may be inconvenient for the user to press the shutter button because the finger that is free to press the shutter button may be too far to reach the shutter button. Additionally, it may also be difficult to press the shutter button in order to hold the smartphone steady with the fingers of one hand.
A conventional method to solve the aforementioned problem is to take a photo using a hardware volume button that can be deployed on one of the side surfaces or the back side of the portable device. It becomes slightly convenient for the user to take a photo using the fixed hardware volume button. However, when the orientation of the mobile device is changed, such as how the orientation changes between a landscape mode and a portrait mode, the fingers that the user holds the mobile device with may vary, and the user is possibly unable to reach the fixed hardware volume button, resulting in poor user experience.
Another conventional method to solve the aforementioned problem is running a special camera application to set the whole touch screen of the mobile device as the shutter button to take a photo. However, since the whole touch screen of the mobile device has been set as the shutter button, it becomes inconvenient to set other advanced options such as auto focusing and auto exposure settings on the touch screen, and the user can only take a photo by pressing on the touch screen with fixed auto focusing and auto exposure settings.
In view of the above, there is demand for a method and a portable electronic device for controlling a graphical user interface of a camera application to increase user convenience for taking a photo.